Flying Blossoms
by the mizter
Summary: "Just how far away you think they will fly, Shifu?." "The furthest, Rhino. Further than any other blossom ever has." Written for CKDrake for the LJ drabble meme.


_**All characters depicted on this story are property of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.**_

Characters: Thundering Rhino, Shifu, Shen  
>Prompts: Chinese Chess, Afternoon tea, Pre-KFP, Peach blossoms<p>

Written for CKDrake for the LJ drabble meme

**Flying Blossoms**

**-x-x-x-x-**

Triumphant, the rhinoceros saw his opponent's disbelief, attempting in vain to discover where his strategy had gone wrong. One moment things seemed to be in his foe's favor, but the next, he had turned with one single move.

Eventually, the red panda realized his futility and admitted his mistake with dignity.

"I just wasn't born for this game." He smiled at his old friend under his long black moustache.

The two shared a friendly chuckle. It's been so long since they last shared a moment like this.

Under a peach tree at the front garden of Gongmen's kwoon, the two fellow masters had spent the last several minutes engaged into a match of Xiangqi. It had been a time to relax and enjoy the good company only two old friends like them could share.

"So, are you giving up then?" Thundering Rhino teased, inciting the smaller master into resuming the play.

"I never said that," Shifu replied, ready to resume the move he had been preparing for contingencies...

When the soft sound of bells rang from the kitchen to announce the serving of the afternoon tea.

"Hm, well, seems like your embarrassing defeat will have to wait, Shifu." Rhino teased further, chuckling once again with the good humor he was well known for.

Shifu took his challenge and he responded equally. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you just yet." He finished with a confident grin.

The dojo's servants approached the two masters, bringing with them a teapot filled with warm green tea and three cups.

Meters away from them, atop elevated ground, a young figure had been, by instruction of his mentor, performing a series of kung fu stances during the last hour. He had executed them fluidly, gracefully moving his talons, wings and fan in harmonious flow.

"Prince Shen, that's enough." Rhino called him and the teenage peacock halted his performance. "You have done well for today. Come have tea with us."

"Thank you, Master." The young prince bowed respectfully to his master, then walked towards the spot under the tree where the tea was being served by the kwoon's servants.

-x-x-x-x-

"Really, Rhino. That boy of yours, the young Prince." He was walking along with his comrade back to their spot at the tree; Prince Shen had already gone on his way back to his royal palace. "You're molding him into something great. The potential I saw in him is clearly admirable. And who better than you to exploit such potential."

"It is only my duty as master to bring the best out of all students, Shifu. But, indeed. Prince Shen has proven out to be a great apprentice. And I in no way doubt that one day he will, not only be a great warrior, but a great ruler as well."

"Just thinking about the day it comes true… fills you with pride, doesn't it?"

Rhino had to admit how right he was. "Just like how you think about the day your kid receives the Dragon Scroll, isn't it?"

Shifu closed his eyes, picturing once again every single detail of that long awaited day. "Can't think of anything else."

They had finally returned to the tree where their inconclusive game laid. Rhino sat down, ready to continue. Shifu was about to follow when he felt something soft fall at his feet.

Looking down, he marveled at the sight of a fully open peach tree blossom, recently fallen from above.

Gazing up, he found many more open blossoms on the tree above him, with many others just about to follow. Rhino stood from his place to look at the lively sight that adorned not only this one tree but all peach trees in the garden.

"Oogway had always told me, Rhino… that every student is like one of these blossoms. We are the trees that hold them; we pass our energy into them; we make them grow while we grow with them, making them bigger every day, until…one day…"

A breeze flowed through the garden. With it, the open blossoms finally detached themselves from the tree, flying away, guided by the wind's lead.

Rhino stared at the blossoms flying away to the distance, towards the unending horizon until they could be seen no more. He reflected on the wisdom his old friend had just shared.

"Just how far away you think_ they_ will fly, Shifu?"

"The furthest, Rhino." Shifu said proudly. "Further than any other blossom ever has."

The two stared off towards the horizon, where the peach tree blossoms flew on their aerial journey towards a new land where, someday, they too would grow to be their own trees…

Largely ignored, the unfinished Xiangqi game laid under the tree.

And equally ignored were two malformed blossoms at the base of the tree, product of a growing defect. Because of their unnatural shape, they were not able to fly with the rest.

They'd lay there, devoid from the glory of flight, for the rest of their existence.

**-x-x-x-x-**

Author's notes:

So this is the first entry for my roll on the LJ Drabble Meme, this one requested by the great CKDrake who I hope enjoyed what I made out of his request.

Needless to say, this one takes a whole lot of time before the first KFP movie. We all assume that Shifu was a whole different person before Tai Lung went berserk (being much nicer and cheerful and all) and thought a Shifu like that would be great friends with Thundering Rhino who (according to his website profile) has a good sense of humor and kindness.

Frankly, while I do feel quite pleased with this one, I definitely feel like I couldn't write it the way I could have done it, but since the meme required me to be brief, I had no choice but to find my way to tell the story differently from how I would have favored it. This drabble is (not counting title and author's notes, of course), around 850 words long. Still technically a 'drabble' (drabbles are supposedly 1000 words in length) and quite honestly I couldn't see myself cutting down any more of what I had left in fear that I might end up butchering the story without salvation.

Originally I wrote the story longer than this (but not by a lot), then I revised it and made cuts and modifications so the story became shorter and the message could be delivered quicker. It was, well, all a challenge. But a good one for sure, which is obviously the purpose of the meme, which I feel glad for entering (even if I might not even get past one request).


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